Lake fire grows to 20,300 acres in Santa Barbara County, threatening homes, Neverland Ranch

Over a thousand firefighters on Monday were continuing to battle a wildfire that is threatening Neverland Ranch, the former home of late pop star Michael Jackson, and others in the Santa Barbara Mountains.

The Lake fire is 20,300 acres and burning in the Los Padres National Forest and feeding on grass, brush and timber in rugged terrain, according to the U.S. National Forest Service. The fire was first reported Friday afternoon and as of Monday morning was 8% contained.

Firefighters on the ground are having a difficult time reaching the blaze due to the heat and terrain, and helicopters have been deployed to contain its spread. Temperatures on Monday are expected to reach the 90s to the low 100s, said Jackie Ruiz, spokesperson for Santa Barbara County’s Office of Emergency Management.

Santa Barbara County expanded its evacuation orders on Sunday to include Figueroa Mountain Road, also known as the Grass Mountain Trail Head, and neighborhoods within Sawmill Basin, including Tunnel Road and the Figueroa Campground, according to emergency officials.

About 20 people who are under the evacuation order zone have left their homes, Ruiz said. The evacuation zone also extends to Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, according to the latest data. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

The Lake fire is burning on the western side of the Los Padres National Forest, just a few weeks after the Post Fire burned over 15,600 acres about 120 miles east near the town of Gorman.

To the east, an evacuation order was put in place for the Mt. Baldy ski resort in the San Bernardino National Forest due to a wildfire that has burned over 115 acres.

The Vista fire was reported around 1 p.m. on Sunday in steep terrain, about a mile from the ski resort and west of mountain community Lytle Creek, according to the U.S. National Forest Service. Portions of the Pacific Crest Trail are closed from the Lytle Creek area to Mt. Baldy and additional trails below the resort, according to emergency officials.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and roughly 250 personnel on foot and in the air are battling the fire as of Monday morning.

Meanwhile, up north, a group of hikers were located Monday after they went missing in the zone of a wildfire burning in the Tahoe National Forest.

The Royal fire, situated near the Royal Gorge in the North Fork of the American River in Placer County, has burned 170 acres since first being reported late Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. National Forest Service.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Department said 13 hikers, between the ages of 16 and 20, were believed to be missing in the area of the fire after their vehicles were discovered parked at the Palisades trail head.

But the group was spotted by helicopter Monday morning, and a search-and-rescue team was set to meet them and escort them out of the area, according to Sgt. Ty Conners with the Placer County Sheriff’s Department.

The area where the fire is burning is known for world-class kayaking and hiking, said Battalion Chief Nolan Hale with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. But that also means the fire is “sitting in super remote terrain, with steep unforgiving cliffs and a ton of granite.”